Bike Lust (Read 1697 times)

So I'm scaling back on the running for the week to rest my randomly cranky right knee. Been getting out on the POS 10 year old Schwinn mountain bike with slick tires a bit. Except for my girly bits and butt complaining some (time for a better saddle), I love going faster than my usual 5.5-6 mph pace while on foot. I have a feeling once DS is big enough for a junior road bike (probably another 2-3 years as fast as that beanpole keeps growing) that my running days will be *mostly* over in favor of a pair of roadie wheels and rides with my guys...
It's a shame we don't have more duathlons in these parts. I have no interest in swimming, but biking and running would be a whole lotta fun in a race.

'15 Goals:

• Do some dus...and some CX...and some tandem gravel...and some podiums...

• PRs

• 130#s (or less)

fxdgear

posted: 6/24/2008 at 3:36 PM

After a brief foray back into running, its back to cycling full time. Seems like I always ached, or was hurt, most of the time when I ran. I have seriously and cautiously tried to get back into running for the past year but this last bout of achilles problems have made me throw away the running shoes for good. Be aware though, that it starts with a decent entry level bike, then a custom frame with Campy Record, then a mtn bike (mistake) and finally the ultimate...a fixed gear For me, there just is no comparison between running a cycling....cycling rocks.

For me, there just is no comparison between running a cycling....cycling rocks.

You sound just like my hubby (who has at least 3 bikes in regular rotation at the moment...a roadie, a mtn. bike and a road bike that he is converting to a cyclocross bike). He used to run...but he's a big guy (6'2", between 225-250 depending upon the season) with big quads, so biking won out. DS is built like a runner and would probably be a natural, but dislikes "formal" running at age 7...get him on his bike and he'll go for miles without a single complaint, though.
So biking is looking more and more appealing to me every day. As much as I enjoy running, it is a huge time (and $) commitment to train for races. What I see long-term is mixing the two sports. Maybe limiting myself to HMs and 25ks, then doing a lot more biking in the Summer--when it's often more comfortable to ride in the heat than run in it. I guess I'll see how my first marathon this Fall goes. Perhaps I'll complete that race and want to do more long running races, or maybe I'll be content to stick with those races I can do in 2 hours or so and supplement with biking. It's good cross-training.

Insane, well yeah, that helps. But it is so cool. Over the last ten years we have made some really great friends there. It is not as hardcore as it sounds. Some people will ride until about 9 pm, call it quits and hit the sleeping bag, get up at 5am and ride some more. Others will ride all night. They bill it more as a personal challenge that a race. It really is a great time

'15 Goals:

I could and would get into biking except for one thing. When you run, you know you have to put out a certain amount of effort. There is just no way around it, you will breathe hard and sweat. With biking, I would probably get lazy and just peddle along at a leisurely pace and not accomplish much in regard to fitness training. I don't have the discipline to bike hard, I could see myself biking at not a very much faster pace than I'm running.

"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius